1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to conveying printed objects and, more particularly, to conveying printed bottles supplied from a printing device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Printing methods, such as screen printing, generally involve the transfer of a pattern which corresponds to informative or decorative material to the surface of an object, such as a bottle. These printing methods utilize various devices for automatically taking-off and conveying the printed and still wet objects from the printers to dryers. However, these automatic takeoff devices are usually designed around the same basic engineering premise, i.e. that the bottles are individually chucked, printed, released, advanced, and finally picked up to be deposited on the conveyor belt of a dryer or dropped into moving "banana boats" for drying. The printing cycles are predictably uniform, thus the coordination between the printer and the dryer is routine engineering.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,198, entitled "Apparatus and Method for Applying Printed Material to a Cylindrical Object," the applicants of the present invention described therein a new concept for printing cylindrical objects, such as bottles. It operates without a squeegee and without the need for chucking. While this system achieves its intended goal of unprecedented printing speed, its full utilization depends on the ability to provide a conveying and drying or curing system capable of achieving a similarly fast speed. The output rate of this printer is not predictably uniform because it depends on the rate of feed, which can be automatic or manual. The fact that the object is rolling freely without being chucked, adds to the timing problem. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a suitable conveying apparatus and method for receiving and holding printed and still wet objects arriving at a receiving station one by one at a random rate, then picking them up and conveying them through the drying or curing process, and finally ejecting them at a discharge station. The apparatus and process for conveying a printed object in accordance with the present invention provides such a system.